The Dream
by JoeyNathanyl
Summary: The name of the fanfic says it all. This was inspired by a dream I had a week ago. It was my very first SU dream, even.
1. Chapter 1

"Oh, Steven! I just know you're going to love it!" Pearl exclaimed as she and the half-gem approached the temple's warp pad. Pearl had gotten news that the Homeworld warp had been fixed, and she was excited to finally be able to show Steven where and how she was made. She had prepared an air-tight space suit for him just in case there was a lack of oxygen on her planet. She was never told whether or not it contained the aforementioned chemical.

Steven leapt onto the warp pad, landing right beside the taller gem. He loved going to new places, and considering where they were headed, he had hoped to learn more of his mother. With a wave of Pearl's hands, light surrounded them, sending them to the central warp zone on Earth. Pearl led Steven up the main pad, and with an excited giggle, activated it.

It was the same as any warp, quick and just a tad chilly. Steven poked his head out for a moment to view the cosmos. He watched in amazement as planet after planet zoomed by, just before he was pulled back in by Pearl. Suddenly, the warping process was halted, just as they were closing in on Homeworld. "What on Earth...?" Pearl trailed off before looking out right on time to see their destination explode and crumble before her eyes. Pearl pulled her head back in and hastily returned the two of them back to Earth mid-warp.

As they were warping back to the temple, Steven watched Pearl's panicked expression turn into one of terror and sorrow. When they finally made it back, Pearl rushed to her room, taking no worry towards the boy that had tried to go after her, nor the other gems that were watching her retreat.

"What happened?" Amethyst asked.

Steven, realizing what he was doing, looked back in shock. "We... Pearl just wanted to show me where you guys were made... Where she met Mom... "

Amethyst's eyes went wide "You WHAT? Without us?!" She drew herself back "Wh-What happened? Why are you guys back so soon?"

Steven's face showed absolute horror "Homeworld... It-" "I see." Garnet interrupted. "I'm sorry to hear that, Steven."

Amethyst tugged on Garnet's arm and looked up at her, Garnet met her gaze and Amethyst gasped, knowing almost exactly what Garnet saw.

The following day, the gems were on a capture mission. Everyone was excited to go stretch their legs... All except Pearl. She was, for lack of a better word, devastated. And as always, Steven noticed even before they made it to the target's location. He was quite smart for his age.

Just before Pearl started moving along with the others, she felt a small hand tug on her shirt. She gathered herself before speaking. "Yes, Steven?" she inquired, looking down at him. "Pearl, you know I can tell when something's wrong. Please tell me what it is." Pearl could feel her throat tighten as she looked away for a moment and tried her best to hold back her tears.

"You sound so much like your mother, Steven." she said, managing a weak smile as a tear found its way down her cheek "I wished that you could have seen it. Where she and I had spent a majority of our lives... So you could learn more about her... So you could learn more about me. But now, I... " she was interrupted by Steven placing a finger to her mouth.

"It's okay, Pearl. Now let's get going before the others start to worry." he said, taking her hand in his and pulling her with him. Soon, they had caught up with the others only to learn that the rogue gem they were looking for had appeared and had already started lashing out.

Garnet looked over to Steven for a split second, whispering "I'm sorry we couldn't hold it off longer" before the monster stabbed through Garnet's head and made her - or rather, THEM - retreat back into their gems. Suddenly, they heard Amethyst yell "Pearl, Steven! Watch out!" before noticing the cracking rubble above them starting to fall.

Steven managed to escape with only a few scratches, but Pearl had become trapped! Her legs were stuck in the rubble and she saw the rogue gem starting to come after her. She heard what sounded so much like her leader's voice in the distance.

"Pearl!" she heard the voice call out. "Rose, I..."

"Pearl!" the voice called out again. "I'm so sorry, Rose..."

"Come on, Pearl!" The voice started sounding a tad more high pitched this time. "...Rose?"


	2. Chapter 2

"Pearl, wake up already!" Steven cried, shaking the slender gem. She murmured and lazily opened an eye to realize she was dreaming. Both of her eyes darted open and she found herself in her room, on a pillar that would easily have led to Amethyst's room. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she spoke "S...Steven?"

The boy smiled at her. "It took you long enough! When are we going on that field trip?" Pearl's eyes widened. Had she only dreamt Homeworld's destruction? Was everything she saw just a bizarre nightmare? Her thoughts were interrupted when they felt a heavy rumble. Pearl dashed out of her room with Steven close behind her.

"Gems, we have trouble!" Garnet said, staring out the window with her gauntlets summoned. Amethyst looked out with her and gasped. When Pearl had found her way to them and looked out to see what the issue was, she couldn't believe her eyes. Homeworld had sent a Pearl sentry to Earth. This one looked like Rose's, but with its uniform on instead of an outfit and it had longer hair.

Without the gems noticing, Steven had made it outside and saw it. He nervously walked towards it, and once he approached, it bowed. "It is an honor to meet you at last, Steven Quartz Universe." The boy's eyes widened before he voiced his mind. "H-how do you..." "STEVEN!" the others cried out. "Stay away from that! We don't know what it wants!" Garnet yelled.

"It... knows my name." he said quietly. They all stopped and looked at the sentry.

"What?" Amethyst inquired.

"Correct" stated the sentry "I have been sent to planet Earth by Yellow Diamond to serve the offspring of Rose Quartz and gain possible intelligence about this planet."

"But why would Yellow Diamond..." Garnet trailed off, only to be answered by the sentry.

"Because there has never, in gem history, been a gem that has mated with a human... And for the half-gem offspring to have much of the same abilities as a whole gem... Yellow Diamond is very intrigued." it claimed.

The sentry looked over and formed an empty smile when it noticed Pearl. "It is nice to see you are holding up well, despite your leader being gone."

Pearl rolled her eyes and looked away "... Don't patronize me."

A bit over an hour later the sentry went inside and up the stairs. "What do you wish of me, Master?" it asked, bowing to the boy that was playing video games. He looked over at it in confusion. "You know, you don't have to call me that. My name's Steven, not 'Master' ..." Its eyes widened before it smiled. "Very well then... Steven."

Steven looked over to the sentry as he was playing Golf Quest for the umpteenth time, and a thought had arisen in his head. "Come here." He ordered, and the sentry quickly obeyed. "Yes?" It inquired, looking up at him. "Play with me." he ordered again, handing it a controller. It accepted this and tried to mimic the way Steven held it. It looked at Steven in bewilderment, which made the boy chuckle.

"Steven... Am I playing correctly?" It asked, not knowing what a par or birdie was. He smiled at it and softly patted its back. "You are! You're almost as good as I am, and you just started!" It smiled back at him. Soon, the sentry had completed all of the levels and the game was over. Steven happily applauded its efforts.

"What should we do now, Ma- I mean, Steven?" It inquired, setting its controller down. Steven hummed in thought, then captured another idea. "Could you give me a piggyback ride around town?" He smiled with stars in his eyes. "What is that?" The sentry asked, tilting its head a bit. "Oh! I forgot, you're not from here. Umm... A piggyback ride is where... " he trailed off, drawing a demonstration on a small piece of paper "... I'm holding onto your back with my arms and legs and you hold my legs to support me. Sound simple enough?"

"Very well." It automatically guessed that it had to kneel down, facing away from him. It looked back to see him smiling from ear to ear before he climbed onto it. "Let's go!" He exclaimed, and they went out the door, setting out to adventure. Steven squeezed his legs lightly against the sentry's sides. "You can got a little faster, if you want." He said. With a slight nod in approval, the sentry went from walking to jogging. It could tell Steven was having fun with their activities. He was whooping and laughing, and it found this entertainment to be infectious. Soon, it was laughing with him.

Its hair blew every which way in Steven's face, but he didn't care. He enjoyed the scent that came to his nose as they travelled around town. It smelled so nice... A fragrance very much like cherry blossoms. After a few odd glances from passersby and a stop at the Big Donut, they finally returned home, panting and laughing. It wasn't until after Steven got off its back that he hugged it, to which it responded with a soft gasp. "Thank you so much for that. It was so cool!" He said, looking up at it. It smiled at him before they started walking up the stairs.

When Steven opened the door to his house, he saw that Connie was waiting for him. He ran up and hugged her, screaming her name in excitement. Connie separated the two of them to speak. "Pearl told me what happened... Is it true? You really have one of your own?" She said, her hands on his shoulders. "Yeah it is!" He exclaimed, pointing at the door where the sentry was standing.

She walked up to it, taking in every detail. After a moment of inspecting it, she looked at him. "It looks so much like Pearl! I guess the only real way you can tell them apart is by their hair." She giggled. The sentry ran its thin fingers through its long, strawberry-blond tresses and chuckled. "Steven." it started, earning a glance from the boy "Do you enjoy my hair looking as it is, or would you like it to be shorter like the sentry you have befriended?"

"No, yours is just fine... It should stay long so I can tell you from the other Pearl." It looked over to him and bowed. "If that is what you wish."


	3. Chapter 3

Several days passed and Steven had gotten used to the sentry. He, at times, jokingly called it "Pear" to gauge its reaction. The worst he's gotten was a bizarre look from it. They were sitting on the couch one evening when the sentry noticed Pearl walk in. It waved at her and gave the same fake smile as when it first saw her. It was then that Pearl spoke up.

"Steven, why are you still keeping that around?" She asked, her body language practically oozing aggressiveness "Come on, Pearl. Be nice! Think of it as... A younger sibling or something." He said, still unaware if it even had a gender. Probably not, considering the fact its body is an illusion. Pearl glared at it "I'll try, Steven... But only because I care about you." She lied. Whenever she and it were around each other without Steven nearby, it kept bringing up Rose, or Yellow Diamond. It agitated her almost to a boiling point. She didn't like the sentry at all and knew something was up.

But as she headed for her door in the temple, she heard it snicker. She looked back at it with eyes like daggers. "Are you testing me on purpose?" She nearly yelled. It looked at her with pseudo-innocence, curling its hair around its finger. "Oh, of course not! If I were to make you angry, Steven would surely dislike me." Pearl opened her mouth to say something, but turned around and stormed to her room before she could word her thoughts.

Steven tugged on the sentry's arm, his face bent with confusion. "Why are you being mean to her? I thought that since you two were made from the same place and for the same reason, that you'd get along better... " The sentry sighed and knelt to reach eye level with the young halfbreed. "Because, Steven... She is defective. We Pearls are made only to serve and protect. But she... She had the nerve to fall in love with the one she was sent out to serve."

Steven's head tilted "Then... Wait... Doesn't that make you defective, too?" The sentry drew its hand back in shock. "...Excuse me?" "Admit it. You've been having fun with me. If a Pearl is supposed to act and be like you say... Then aren't you..." He trailed off, and the sentry bowed its head when it realized how right he was. "For a mere half-human child... You are far smarter than you look. Forgive me, Steven..."

He cupped its cheeks in his hands and smiled. "It's okay! No one's perfect. You don't have to apologize." He stated. With this, the sentry nearly cried as it wrapped its arms around him in a tight hug. As it clung to him, he noticed Pearl staring at them from in front of the temple door, mouth agape. "Steven., you..." Steven shook the sentry off of him and went up to Pearl. "Is something wrong?"

"Not at all, Steven." She smiled, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Now, it's time for bed." She looked over to the sentry "I'd like to talk to you tomorrow, if that's fine with you." The sentry nodded before following Steven to his "room" and sitting at his bedside, leaning against the mattress as he started to doze off. He smiled and sleepily added a "goodnight" before he went to sleep.

The next morning, the sound of metal clanging woke Steven up, and he noticed Amethyst and Connie staring out the window with a wide smile spread across both of their faces. "What's... Going on?" He asked as he made his way sluggishly down the steps, rubbing his eyes. "Pearl vs Other Pearl! This is gonna be so intense!" Amethyst exclaimed. Steven's eyes shot open just before he rushed to the window.

They both had their spears out, and the sentry looked confident. They ran around each other in a large circle, looking for an opening. Pearl struck, only to be blocked by the sentry's spear. The sentry returned the blow, only to be blocked and blind-sighted by Pearl. It blocked again! "I wonder who would win..." Connie said, trying to hold in the excitement. "I mean, Pearl's a very talented sword fighter... But we don't know about the sentry. It could have had tons of training back on its planet."

Steven, being the sweet little knucklehead that he is, went outside to try and stop them from fighting. As soon as he got there, though, Pearl had stabbed the sentry in its chest and smiled, raising a foot just above its gem after it fully retreated. "STOP!" Steven cried out, catching Pearl off guard. "Why are you doing this?" His face started getting wet with tears.

"Steven... It was going to hurt you. You wouldn't give it the information it needed, so it was going to force it out of you.. I couldn't let it do that." She claimed, wiping the tears from his cheeks. "Then why were you about to crush the gem when you could have bubbled it?" He questioned, looking up into her pale blue eyes for every hint of honesty. "I wasn't thinking, Steven. I'm so sorry. You're right." She stood up and sighed, encapsulating the gem in a bubble and sending it off with a wave of her hand.

He hugged her and smiled. "Can we... go on that field trip now?"


End file.
